Location Description:

All meals begin at this Afghan restaurant with a wonderful bowl of aush (noodle soup spiked with yogurt and dried mint leaves, fragrant and delicate). It's best to order as many dishes as possible: golden-fried potato samosas; a smoky, almost caramelized eggplant dip; toasted slices of leek borani, stuffed Afghan flatbread to run through a huge bowl of yogurt dip. Dunk everything in Shalah Wadood's already-legendary chutneys―one emerald-green due to the jalapeños she minces for the condiment, but the better one a glowing-red version as bright as pimiento peppers and as sweet; while hellish, its lingering, nearly-cloying sweetness will motivate you to buy one of the bottles Wadood keeps in her soda fridge.